SnappySnapshots.com

Zoe Strauss makes a well reasoned argument on her blog regarding the 2008 presidential election. If her logic doesn’t sway you, how about this?

Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain’s intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain’s hair and said, “You’re getting a little thin up there.” McCain’s face reddened, and he responded, “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.” McCain’s excuse was that it had been a long day.

I would have cut off his testicles and fed them to jackals.

I have been a nomad of late and haven’t had time to reflect on some recent adventures. Freshest in my mind is last Thursday’s opening of Beyond the Backyard at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. Karsten Lund did an amazing job of curating a strong group exhibition that was true to the theme and full of individually interesting photographs. Not an easy task. I especially enjoyed seeing the large Crewdson, Bill Owen’s work and the beautiful images of Nic Nicosia.

The opening was packed with Chitown photo luminaries including Brian Ulrich, Jon Gitelson, Gerg Stimac, Colleen Plumb, Kelli Connell, Catherine Edelman, Deanna Dikeman, Mike Sinclair, Karsten Lund, Karen Irvine, Natasha Egan and Stumptown’s own Shawn Records.

We ended the evening in fine Chicago tradition with many beers, tater tots, fried mac-and-cheese (surprisingly delicious!) and great conversation. I always seem to have the best time when I’m visiting Chicago.

I get to spend the next few days home in NYC, but will be heading to San Francisco this Thursday for the opening of my show at Koch Gallery.

Bob West hails from Ontario, Canada shoots along the the icy shore of Blenheim, Lake Erie, apparently even during the winter. The colored glow over the horizon is from Cleveland, Ohio (USA). Notice the chunks of ice in the foreground that moved during the exposure.

(Photo by Bob West)

You can see more of Bob’s night photography on his Flickr site.

Tomorrow morning I will be flying to Chicago for the opening of Beyond the Backyard at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. It will be a short trip, but I always love rolling with the Chicagraphy crew. If you are in the area stop by the opening and say hi. The show has an amazing lineup of photographers including Kohei Yoshiyuki, Bill Owens, Todd Hido, Sally Mann, Garry Winogrand, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Gregory Crewdson, and Portland’s own, Shawn Records.

The image above was sent to me by Zach Abubeker, a photography student at Columbia College and an intern at the MoCP. Pretty cool, huh?

Here are the details:

Beyond the Backyard
Museum of Contemporary Photography
June 20 - August 23
600 S. Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 26, 5-7pm

Summer is officially here and on the streets of New York you can feel the collective anxiety over the coming stickiness. As Jonathan Richman sang, “if you’ve been in New York city in July you know when I say sticky I’m right.” If you are looking to transport yourself from the muggy muss of the city to something a little more pastoral, I suggest you head over to the Jen Bekman Gallery for the Wednesday opening of the group show, Ornithology.

A diptych from my Domesticated series will be on display as well as bird-themed work by Echo Eggebrecht, Todd Forsgren, Laura Levine, Carrie Marill, Christina Muraczewski, Victoria Neel, Lamar Peterson, Jason Polan, Amy Ross, Alec Soth, Keith Taylor, Bert Teunissen and Luke Stephenson.

Here are the details:

Ornithology | Photographs, Paintings + Mixed Media
Jen Bekman Gallery
June 25 - August 2, 2008
6 Spring Street
New York, NY
Opening Reception: Wednesday June 25, 6-8pm

See you at the opening.

During a holiday visit to Southern California in 2006 I saw the Where We Live: Photographs of America from the Berman Collection at the Getty. In a show filled with great images by American color legends like Shore, Eggleston and Sternfeld, Doug DuBois’ tense and intimate narratives jumped off the wall and stayed with me long after I left the show.

At the time I was just out of grad school and still discovering and devouring the canonical names and images of photography. I had never heard of Doug DuBois. I had no idea he was featured in the landmark Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort show at the MoMA. I had never seen the hypnotic images from his Family Photos series. I had no knowledge he was a respected photo educator at Syracuse University. Discovering Doug and his work has been one of the great joys of my short time in the photography world.

Shortly after the Getty show I started an email correspondence with Doug. Right off the bat he was open with his advice and heartfelt in his encouragement. He pushed me to apply for the Light Work residency (and may have had a hand in my selection). He even invited me to come up to Syracuse to speak to his class. Doug is the best kind of educator because he doesn’t confine his wisdom to the walls of the classroom.

This past Friday I was finally able to spend some in-person time with Doug. He showed me 25 years worth of beautiful, rich C-prints from his Family Photo series. Each print feels like a subplot in an expansive epic narrative. The image above of his mother is particularly stunning. It makes me think of my own mother and the pain of seeing one’s parents aging and vulnerable. As Alec Soth has said, Doug doesn’t seem to take a bad picture. After seeing the entire series in sequence you can’t help but want to go through it again and again. Fortunately, Aperture will be publishing a book of this work in the spring and I will be able to dive into his striking photos of familial complexity whenever I want.

LA night photographer Tom Paiva will be included in the show The Emerging Landscape at the Topanga Canyon Gallery (Topanga, CA) along with seven other photographers, which runs from July 1st through July 27th.

Tom was a co-founder of The Nocturnes, has published a large-format book Industrial Night, and has over 70 cover images for various trade magazines to his credit. He is also featured in the night photography documentary film Night of the Living Photographers.

The reception for the artists is July 12th from 4-8pm.

The wonderful image above was created by Anneke Joris. Anneke sent me a nice note and said she was inspired by my photo, Howl. I love that someone in Belgium can see my work online and be moved to create their own fantastic piece of art. Thank you Interweb!

Darius Himes reminds me about the Blurb photo book competition, Photography Book Now. Photo books have never mattered more to an artist and even if you don’t win it would be wise to get your work in front of such a solid lineup of jurors.

In other art news, the 2008 School of Visual Arts MFA Photo, Video and Related Media thesis show opens today at the Visual Arts Gallery. It’s another great year and a great opportunity to see young talent before they hit it big. Keep an eye out for Allison Kaufman’s very moving Dancing With Divorced Men piece and Alison Malone’s ethereal The Daughters of Job.

Worchester, MA photographer, Stephen DiRado, is the Photography Program Director/Studio Lecturer in Photography in the Clark University Visual & Performing Arts Department. I originally came across his work through his amazing portraits of sunbathers at Bell Pond and 80’s-cool Mall Series. It was only later than I learned he also did night photography, which can be found in his Environments series.

(Photo by Stephen DiRado)

There’s more of night photography in his Celestial portfolio.